


The Girl In The Mirror

by Mistymay6886



Series: *Imaginary Friends Verse* (Verse 4) [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Original, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Asexual Raphael Santiago, Best Friends, Detective Alec Lightwood, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, M/M, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Pre-Slash, Protective Raphael, Slash, Warlock Magnus Bane, Warlock Simon Lewis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24035704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistymay6886/pseuds/Mistymay6886
Summary: Oookay…so…Alec is Raphael’s best friend. They’ve been partners ever since he transferred into the precinct over two years ago and he really is one of the very few people in this world Raphael genuinely cares about. There’s very little he wouldn’t do for the guy…but plunging into the madness that is a magical annex, two plucky warlock interns, multiple realms in jeopardy, a not-so-imaginary-warlock-childhood-best-friend, and a Demon girl in a magic mirror?Uh…Y-yeah…This might be a bit much…Damn Alec and his stupidly moral Boyscout tendencies. He knew this whole ‘best friend’ thing would come back to bite him.Simon IS cute as hell though…so at least there’s one bright spot in this insanity.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Raphael Santiago
Series: *Imaginary Friends Verse* (Verse 4) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1350274
Comments: 20
Kudos: 45





	1. Best Worst Case Scenario (Damnit Alec)…

**Author's Note:**

> Kay like with verse 5 this story picks up exactly where the last one left off (so you know if you haven’t read that one this isn’t gonna make a lot of sense.)
> 
> Oh, Just FYI From here on out I’m gonna try (TRY being the operative word) to keep to just having 1 section per chapter whenever possible. When I started writing having the multiple parts was a good way to beef up the chapters as the sections tended to be pretty short…
> 
> SO not the case anymore…
> 
> Don’t worry the stories are still gonna be long (likely between 40k and 80k words), still a lot of shifting POV’s cause I really love that, and likely still some random meandering parts just because I can’t seem to help it but from here on out I’m trying to cut down on the ‘filler’ type sections and chapters. I don’t know how it’s gonna go…but that’s my goal…
> 
> Kay enough of me babbling…Back to the actual story….
> 
> _How is a suspicious, streetwise, somewhat jaded detective gonna deal with the whole ‘imaginary warlock friend’ thing?_
> 
> _Let’s find out…_

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##  *-Raphael-*-Raphael-*-Raphael-*-Raphael-*-Raphael-*

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_Ugh…damn Alec…_

Stupidly moral Boyscout. Why the hell did he have to go and get a ‘best friend’ anyways? He was totally fine being a cool, aloof loaner. It worked for him damnit. Worked for most of his life…why did he have to go and decide to switch it up now?

Hell, as far as that goes why did he even bother with the whole ‘detective’ thing?

He should’ve just been a hermit.

He’d of made a good hermit…

Or maybe he should revisit the whole ‘supervillian’ route. Yeah, it was a joke but it’s only funny cause it could work. He could totally pull it off…and he really did look great in black. Plus it’d be far fewer headaches.

Bet a Supervillian wouldn’t have to deal with this drama. You wouldn’t see freaking Lex Luthor rushing off to save superman when he got in over his head, would you?

Nope- he just goes on and does his own thing and stays out of the moral idiot’s drama maybe popping up to offer an occasional snarky quip or evilly amused chuckle.

_That should be him damnit._

But Noooo….he had to go and change and grow and be all social and actually give a damn about someone. Had to partner with Alec and start to actually like the jackass and now he stupidly sees the guy as the closest thing to family he has and so when he does something mind-numbingly moronic like follow a pretty face with a sob story and freaky glowing cat eyes out into the middle of rattlesnake canyon like a dumbass Raphael has no choice but to follow right along behind to try to keep the stupidly moral idiot Boyscout alive.

_Ugh…_

_Damnit Alec._

He huffed faintly, shaking his head, checking the info on the tracker on Alec’s car, taking yet _another_ turn onto yet _another_ isolated, desolate not-so-much-road-as-slightly-oversized-dirt-bike-trail winding into the heart of rattlesnake canyon.

_Where the hell was this Magnus dude taking Alec anyways?_

He was SO not expecting this. He figured they’d stay in the city- in safe, POPULATED areas. If he knew the guy was leading him out into the middle of the desert he’d of followed closer.

Damnit…he shouldn’t have followed so far behind. Should’ve started after them sooner. Once he’d ensured they were taking Alec’s car he’d been sure to let them get a decent lead. Alec was sharp as a tack and had a near innate ability to catch a tail. Raphael had purposefully held back at the station a good fifteen minutes just to be sure he put enough space between them. He figured it should be safe enough. They were taking Alec’s car. He had Alec’s car tagged, Easy…

_Right?_

Right. Besides he figured Alec’s a generally intelligent, strong, capable person and one of the best detectives he’s ever met. Even with all of the craziness of the whole flashy, hellfire cat eyed, mystery stranger thing he was sure Alec could handle himself for at least fifteen minutes without his help.

I mean really…it’s ALEC…

Guy’s a more uptight version of Captain America- TOTAL Boyscout…so honest, moral and law abiding he verges on freaking boring.

How much trouble could Alec _possibly_ get into in fifteen minutes?

A Lot…

A LOT of trouble…

Raphael followed the tracker out of the city and deep into the desert. Into the middle of Rattlesnake canyon of all places, cause not like that seems ominous as hell or anything. He tried to speed up a bit a couple times, close some of the distance when he realized just how far off the beaten path they were getting but it was no use.

He actually ended up even further behind than he’d intended because the damn tracker started to kinda flicker and lose the signal. At one point it totally dropped out for nearly five minutes and Raphael swears his heart stopped. Thankfully he was able to do some reconfiguring and managed to get the signal back- it was thready and weak and seemed to be dealing with some kind of major interference but at least it was there. Even so he still lost another ten minutes to that. Generally such a small amount of time wasn’t that big of deal…

Except when it WAS…

Like when your best friend is being taken out into the middle of the desert by a bizarre, mysterious stranger who popped up out of nowhere.

A bizarre, mysterious stranger with freaky, glowing, hellfire cat eyes.

Who seemed to have a way to interfere with his tracker.

Damnit…

What the hell was Alec getting himself into here? Or rather what is he getting THEM into because as long as Alec’s in it Raphael’s gonna be right there, doing whatever he can to keep his annoyingly moral idiot Boyscout of a best friend safe. He didn’t care what this brought, come hell or high water if Alec’s staying in then so is Raphael.

_But man did he wish he had some clue beyond ‘pretty dude with clubwear and hellfire cat eyes’._

And again where the hell were they going? He drove past the last trial thing _(this has never/will never count as anything even approaching a road)_ nearly three times. He kept driving past the little blip of an offshoot leading even deeper into a more secluded part of the canyon, the trail head partially obscured by large boulders and a scruff of tree like things, sides lined with sad, sparse he-hesitated-to-call-them-trees, cacti, scrub brush and large, rough boulders.

_What in the hell? Where were they?_

That Magnus dude was dressed like he was heading to a club or escaped from a boyband! SO not the desert hiking type. For gods sakes he was in blue heeled boot! There is literally nothing out here even remotely club-like. It’s just scrub, rocks, probably a bunch of rattlesnakes and scorpions, cacti and tumbleweeds in the making.

_Maybe it’s like a desert rave type location? Not like that’s Alec’s ‘thing’ but this Magnus dude totally seemed like he could be the type. And really where else could they possible b-_

Oh for god’s sakes…

**_Are you freaking kidding me?_ **

Raphael can’t help an aggravated groan as he pulls to a stop next to Alec’s car, shaking his head faintly. He sighs, looking around for any warnings or signs of alarm, giving a long, world weary sigh, eyeing the large, dingy structure obscured by thickets of scrub brush and boulders wearily.

_So, what could possibly be WORSE than your far too moral idiot of a best friend/partner being led out into the desert by a bizarre, mysterious stranger?_

Said idiot best friend/partner being led to a creepy, abandoned, dilapidated **_warehouse_** in the middle of the desert by a bizarre, mysterious stranger.

Oh Dios mío…forget the superhero/supervillian thing; this has all the earmarks of a freaking horror movie. I don’t care how pretty they are- who the hell follows a random, mysterious stranger into an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the desert?

_His idiot partner/best friend that’s who…_

_Which means…_

_Ugh…_

_Damnit Alec._

He groaned again, louder, rubbing his face, shaking his head faintly before shifting over, grabbing his service weapon off the passenger seat. He sighed, double checking it was loaded before shifting back over, opening the door, climbing out, cursing every last life choice he’s ever made that led him to this point.

Raphael ducked down, looking for any hidden threats or traps. He slipped closer, approaching Alec’s car, checking the surroundings for any signs of resistance, foul play or any kind of a struggle. He wasn’t’ really expecting them but he could never be too sure.

When they’d left together Alec seemed fairly clear headed- a bit troubled by whatever this Magnus told him but he did go along willingly. Even so this was a pretty long trek out here and he did lose track of them for nearly twenty minutes. Who the hell knows what could’ve happened in that time. Alec might have spontaneously saw past the pretty, wised up and tried to make a break for it.

In general he’d think Alec could handle himself but there was something about this Magnus that set him on edge. It was just an instinct thing but he got the feeling despite the overabundance of sparkles and theatrics in his appearance he was NOT someone you’d want to screw with.

Raphael knew enough to never ignore those instincts. Usually Alec did too…at least he did when those instincts weren’t clouded by other, more baser ones. Right now? Who knows where his heads at with all this. He’d like to think Alec’s smart enough to see past a pretty face, sob story and runaway hormones but it’s not like he’d be the first to be duped by those things.

He moved closer, gaze shifting over the car, peering in the window searching the interior carefully looking for anything that’d indicate Alec was in distress.

_Oh thank god…everything looks good._

He breathed a faint sigh of relief, a bit of the tension in his shoulders easing, relaxing just the slightest bit. Okay so he’d of preferred the spontaneous wise up thing but at least Alec was alright when they got out of the car. He can make out two faint sets of prints in the dirt, Magnus’s boots and Alec’s scuffed work shoes that he and Izzy are always threatening to throw away. The prints look normal, not overly rushed or scuffed…he’s not seeing any marks of hesitation so whatever is going on Alec is willingly involved.

Which is…

Well…i-it just is what it is- Alec’s being an idiot but at least he’s an idiot who’s not being kidnapped or physically forced into something.

Right now that’s the best he can hope for here. Raphael stands up a bit straighter, again checking his surroundings before moving over to the passenger side door, quickly tucking his gun into the holster under his jacket. he retrieves his phone and a small vial of faintly iridescent white powder. Glancing around once more, assuring there’s no one else close by he kneels down next to the car. He lifts the vial, opening the cap, sprinkling a bit of the powder over the door handle, leaning in to blow off the excess.

_Hmm….now if only…_

_Ah! Yes…perfect._

He lifts his phone, positioning it just right, fiddling with the lighting to get the clearest view, snapping a picture of the print. He clicked a few more buttons, pulling up a text thread.

****

**_Raphael: Hey Iz, know you’re in meetings and your phone’s off but can you run this ASAP and get back to me? Very important. Also do you know a Magnus Bane? Alec’s meeting with him now but something seems off…following now._ **

He hit the button, quickly sending the message, tucking his phone and the fingerprint powder back in his pocket, retrieving his gun, looking around once more before standing back up, slipping around the side, slowly approaching the warehouse. He did a quick circle, checking for any other exits or a way to get a view inside but found none. There were no windows, the walls bare, rusted tin painted a bland, reddish brown that kinda seemed to blend with the dust, earth and brambles surrounding it, nearly seeming to work as a type of camouflage.

_Great, cause a creepy abandoned warehouse in the middle of the desert isn’t worrisome enough- add in partially obscured._

He leaned closer, pressing his ear to the side, holding his breath…nada.

_Oh peachy, may as well add completely soundproof to the mix too. Yup, pretty sure that’s a blackout on the horror movie bingo card._

Hey…you never know…maybe he’s reading it wrong. It could be something else. Maybe it’s just like a weird sex thing or something…like role play or whatever? I-I mean…he did take his eyes off the screen for a bit dealing with the whole rookie torment. Maybe he just missed something. The weird, freaky eye thing could be like contacts or something…maybe it’s just some kind of a game type deal…

_T-that could be…_

_Right?_

_Right…kay good…that’d almost make sense. Maybe that’s all it is._

_With any luck that’s all it is._

_…._

_…_

_.._

_._

Oh my god.... his best case scenario here is that his best friend is ‘just’ being lured to some freaky sex dungeon in the middle of the desert for some weird role playing thing and he’s gonna wander in on him.

**_He doesn’t want to see that damnit!_ **

_How the hell is this his life?_

_Ugh…_

Alright whatever, he has to know what’s up then he can just take it from there. Just figure out what’s going on. If it’s dangerous get Alec out, if it’s ‘whatever’ get **_himself_** out and go find Divya and Kevin and have them mix up a batch of their ‘Brain Bleach Bella Donna’s’ and hope they’re strong enough to forget whatever’s going on in there.

Right…here goes nothing.

He took a deep breath, slipping over to the door, trying the knob, somewhat surprised to find it unlocked. He cracks it open, leaning in just enough to peek in and ensure the coast was clear. He froze blinking, leaning a bit further in, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

Alec and Magnus are standing on the far side of the room along with another man, all three of them have their backs to Raphael, talking about something or the other but right now Raphael can’t really concentrate enough to actually pick up any words of what they’re saying, brain spinning too fast to really process something as mundane as words and chatter.

**_What. The. Hell._ **

He swallowed, shaking his head uncomprehendingly, distractedly slipping his gun back into its holster, distantly realizing that if he’s seeing THIS it’s possible he’s being affected by something and probably not clear headed enough to handle a loaded firearm.

_God he hopes the answer is just a nice, simple drugging…cause otherwise…uh…_

_Y-Yeah…_

He swallowed, eyes roaming around the room, trying to even begin to process what he is seeing…it’s not working.

_Uh…Oookay…so…good (he thinks) news…it’s NOT a creepy sex dungeon…_

_But…as to what it IS…yeah…no clue._

From the outside the place looked fairly small- maybe the size of a two car garage, if that…b-but from in here it looks quite a bit larger. Like WAY bigger. Like Tardis level bigger. H-how is th-that’s j-w…

_What?!_

And that’s not even the craziest part! The craziest part isn’t the space- it’s what is filling the space. It looks like a freaking Occult Shop exploded in here! The place is an absolute disaster; There’s papers, books and containers on the ground and any number of he doesn’t even know what scattered everywhere, pieces of furniture up righted and askew. Place is a total mad house.

O-only then it’s not.

Raphael startles at a sharp snapping sound, everything suddenly swirling, shifting, righting itself, moving into place, the room suddenly perfectly organized and tidy…

He actually thinks he sees a clean type sparkle like thing like you see in a cheesy commercial.

_Oookay umm…t-this is not normal. What the hell did he just stumble into here? Seriously, he was drugged…right?_

_Came into contact with something on the car or the door or something…_

_R-right?_

Raphael swallows, looking around the newly clean room in disbelief, head shaking faintly, REALLY hoping yet again that he’s just drugged.

Oh my god, this place is so far beyond bizarre. There’s a small setting area kinda thing off to the side with an elegant lounge, a couple chairs, a table and crazily enough even a fireplace but what’s taking up nearly every inch of the rest of the oddly large space is the shelves. Shelves upon shelves upon shelves, stacked seemingly to the rafters. One section’s filled near to bursting with what seems like hundreds if not thousands of what can only be described as spellbooks; Big, heavy tomes that look ancient, bound with leather and seeming like even looking at them too long would end up damaging them. He can even make out a few stacks of scrolls on the top of one of the bookcases. There are shelves filled with crystals, talismans, statues, glimmering he-doesn’t-even-know-what and an entire section of glittering amulets.

Raphael’s attention catches on one of the shelves next to the door, closest to him. It’s filled with dozens of oddly shaped bottles, vials, jars and other various containers, all carefully labeled. He glances over again at the three on the other side of the room, ensuring their focus is elsewhere before drifting closer to the shelf, close enough he can clearly make out the labels on the bottles. He tilts his head, eyes flickering over them hoping something would make sense _(would it be too much to hope they’re labeled ‘hallucinogens’?...yeah probably…still he can hope. )_. His eyes shift over the lables…he blinks, eyebrows raising in alarm.

Or maybe he can’t.

Many of the labels are in languages he’s never seen, things he couldn’t even begin to pronounce, some that don’t even register as languages but going with the context he knows they are. Crazy as those ones are the labels he can actually read properly make even less sense than the first group.

There’s things like viperfish venom, wormswood, griffin feathers, fire scorpion sting, deamoncat claw, Wendigo blood, and liquid fire. There’s a bottle filled with black glitter looking stuff that shimmers green or violet depending on how the light hits it…the label says ‘powdered dragon scales’.

Raphael blinks, shaking his head faintly, taking a deep breath, trying to shake that off, turning his focus from the insanity of well… ** _that_** …back over to the human type insanity, finally able to tune into the conversation.

“-s our delightful intern Simon Lewis….” He smiled brightly squeezing the younger man’s shoulder, smiling over at Alec.

The guy shifted, hesitantly raising his hand, giving a kinda sheepish little wave.

“Hey.”

Alec smiled back.

“Hi Simon, good to meet you.”

Magnus grinned, nodding at the both of them turning his attention back to Alec, raising his hand giving a graceful, theatrical type wave, odd, shimmering violet sparkles materializing, dancing around his hand.

_Woah…what the hell?_

“And This Alexander is my Annex- Quite literally where the Magic happens.”

Simon giggled at the cheesy line, the sound bright and surprisingly pleasant, his stance getting a bit less nervous, clearly relaxing. Alec rolled his eyes, huffing out an amused laugh, shaking his head, smiling exasperatedly at Magnus.

“Wow that was bad…thought you were better at the flirting thing?”

Magnus grinned.

“Gorgeous you asked me to stop- wanted to ‘put the brakes on that’. Second you’re ready for me to shift back into gear just say the word.”

Alec chuckled, blushing faintly.

“Umm…yeah…t-think we need to deal with one crazy thing at a time here- and there’s already a lot of crazy to deal with.”

Magnus gave a slight shrug, shifting, gesturing dramatically around the room.

“So what do you think of our ‘save the worlds bunker’- Otherwise known as my annex?”

Alec chuckled, looking around, taking in the place. Raphael used the time to do the same thing, shaking his head faintly, not sure what to make of the ‘save the worlds bunker’ _(crap that does NOT bode well)_ , eyes shifting over the seemingly never ending shelves filled with books, candles, stones, bottled dragon scales, crystals, and heaven only knows what else.

Damnit Alec…

Again…

But…well…looking for positives, Alec was laughing and smiling and seemed fairly relaxed. His body language was consistent with his normal behavior, the smiles and laughs were real, not nervous _(except for the one from the flirty comment but that’s actually even more in character then the other laugh)_ or in any way false or forced. He didn’t seem intoxicated or under any kind of influence and he clearly wasn’t under duress.

So…whatever this was it’s pretty clear it’s insane…but it’s also pretty clear Alec was here willingly, and he was okay with being here.

_Okay…Raphael’s nothing if not adaptive._

Alec’s not panicking with this therefore neither will he…at least not out loud.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god he’s in some freaking Tardis like magic madhouse hidden in the heart of rattlesnake canyon with a hellfire cat eyed dude with shimmery something or other around his hands and magic reorganizing powers and a cauldron and spell books and crystal balls and an entire shelf of what looks like medieval weapons that he just barely noticed and after all this insanity is sorted he’d really like to look over and know more about but right now is just SO completely unsettling and the only people who know where they are besides said hellfire eyed dude is a freaking intern and his best friend/idiot partner who may be infatuated or spelled or who the hell knows what else because yeah he can tell when someone’s drugged or drunk or whatever but he doesn’t know the signs of hypnosis or spells or a freaking curse and this is just so very far out of his wheelhouse and insane on SO very many levels and so help him if this blows up in his face he is SO taking up the supervillian career and it will TOTALLY be on Alec.

**_ Damnit Alec! _ **

Okay got that out of his system…he’s back…he cool…he’s fine…moving on…

_Back to the insanity._

Alec shook his head, glancing back at Magnus, giving a faint shrug, smiling.

“It’s really something else…definitely suits you. Can’t believe your ‘save the world Annex’ is disguised as a creepy old abandoned building in the middle of rattlesnake canyon…”

Magnus smirked teasingly, shrugging, slipping a bit closer.

“Well darling that’s the genius of it. I figure no one would bother looking into it. Seemed to make sense.”

_Welp…if that wasn’t an opening he didn’t know what was…_

He took a deep breath, purposefully relaxing, leaning against the door, settling into his standard, completely confident, totally in control stance and patented, self-assured, ‘I have you now’ smirk.

“You’re right it does…unless of course someone sees their partner being led into said creepy old abandoned building by a mysterious stranger who showed up out of nowhere, clearly spooking said partner.”

Right on cue Alec, Magnus and Simon startle, whirling to face him. Raphael’s smirk ticks up a bit at the corner, the tiniest bit of challenge seeping in, eyebrow quirking, eyes shifting over the three. He can’t help pausing a moment, gaze sticking on Simon, flickering curiously over the new guy, taking in the light brown wavy hair, sweet features and pretty, wide, sparklingly bright, golden brown eyes.

_Wow…cutie…_

_Not really the time or place for that but definitely worth noting._

_And assuming there’s no immediate threat definitely circling back to…_

But for now.

He shifting a bit more, gaze shifting from Simon back over to Alec, locking eyes with him, sharp gaze poised, scouring those bright hazel eyes, reading every last flit and flicker, searching for the slightest abnormality or sign of deception.

“So Alec…You gonna tell me what’s going on here?”

Alec blinks, swallowing...

“Umm…w-well…”

Raphael tilts his head, waiting.

“Yes…?”

Raphael could see the hesitation in his gaze, a faint bit of guilt and near hopelessness. However it didn’t necessarily seem like he didn’t _want_ to tell him or felt guilty at being caught, more just that he was a bit overwhelmed and didn’t know how to say it, where to begin.

Kinda understandable giving the whole crazy ‘save the world magic bunker’, hellfire cat eyed boyband escapee thing. Raphael probably should feel bad putting him so on the spot like this. Make it easier for him, say something comforting or in some way supportive.

He should…

And if he was another type of person he probably would.

But he’s not…and he won’t.

He opts to just wait it out, staring expectantly, watching Alec squirm, readying for whatever insanity could possibly explain all of this.

Alec seemed to falter again, a whirlwind of emotions, excuses, and explanations flitting behind those bright hazel eyes before it finally settles. He takes a deep breath, giving a kind of flippant, hopeless shrug, gesturing halfheartedly around the room, a slightly disbelieving, just on this side of sarcastic smile tugging at his lips.

“Hey Raph, this is my not-so-imaginary-friend Magnus Bane…he’s a warlock from another universe here in hopes that I can help him save the world…”

_Uh….Oookay…_

_Gotta admit…did NOT see that one coming._

**{** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_*_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **_** ***** **}**


	2. The Friends May Be Imaginary But The Insanity Is Real…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so sorry for the wait guys- I know it’s been a while. Works been crazy and it’s been so hot the last couple days it’s hard for me to get the motivation to do much of anything. Even so we got another chapter. I really love this story- I’m SO excited about this verse I have SO many plans you all have no idea. 
> 
> Anyway hope you like it!

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_Umm….Oookay….so… uh yeah…_

In all fairness He did ask for answers, he did. He assumed he was pretty well set to roll with whatever insanity this brought. He asked for the truth…wanted the truth…a-and despite the bordering on jovial, faintly sarcastic tone he knew what Alec said _was_ the truth.

And yeah with the flaming cat eyed guy and ‘save the world bunker’ he was expecting something pretty out there.

But…uh…yeah… gotta admit he did not see ‘Imaginary friend, universe hopping warlock’ coming.

He blinked, head tilting, holding up a finger.

“Umm…yeah…think I’m gonna need a bit more context here.”

“Like a **_lot_** more…” Simon muttered.

Raphael shifted, gaze slipping from Alec over to the other guy, quirking his eyebrow curiously. Simon seemed to startle, a faint look of confusion flickering in those soft golden brown eyes before he freezes, eyes widening, a light pink blush warming his cheeks. His hand comes up, rubbing at his eyes, giving a slight groan, peeking through his fingers sheepishly.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Raphael couldn’t help a faint huff of a laugh, nodding. Simon rolled his eyes at herself, giving a faint shrug and an adorably apologetic little half smile that made Raphael’s heart do a little flip, looking up, meeting his eyes.

“Sorry, escaping inner thought. My mouth runs faster than my brain sometimes- o-okay…a lot of the time. Kinda has a tendency of getting away from me. Really didn’t mean to interrupt.” He chuckled softly, reaching up, tucking a few light brown colored locks behind his ear, other hand giving a flickering little wave towards Alec and Magnus.

“Continue with the whole crazy intro thing, just forget I’m here.”

Raphael’s gaze slipped over him slowly before sliding back up, meeting his eyes, flashing a flirty smirk, head tilting, shifting just a bit closer.

“Yeah, really don’t see that happening.”

Simon blinked, an adorably surprised, faintly disbelieving giggle of a laugh slipping out, subconsciously drifting closer. Raphael reached forward, smoothly catching his hand, shaking, squeezing lightly.

“Detective Raphael Santiago.”

Simon gave a bit of a breathless laugh, flushing prettily, gaze shifting over him, faintly shaking his head.

“Wow pretty….Oh! u-umm…not...I didn’t mea- I um…y-your name…your name is pretty, not like YOU are pr-umm-w-well I mean you are too, **_obviously_** you are too, but um…but that’s n-that doesn’t…I didn’t m-I-ugh…” he huffed faintly, trailing off, head shaking, giving a faintly helpless shrug, not even annoyed at the bright laugh that Raphael was unable to keep in, holding his hand up as if to physically stop the flow of words from escaping.

Raphael grinned, eyebrow quirking questioningly.

“Escaping inner thought?”

Simon huffed, nodding, reaching up with his free hand brushing his hair back.

“Yup…like I said, happens a lot. Okay if I try again?”

Raphael couldn’t help a rather charmed little chuckle, eagerly waving for him to continue.

“Oh yes, by all means please do.”

Simon huffed faintly, rolling his eyes, giving a feisty little eyebrow quirk of his own at the teasing tone before brushing it off. He took a deep breath, raising his free hand, flashing a twinkling little wave and a worryingly charming, beaming smile.

“Hi Detective Santiago. Simon Lewis, nice to meet you.”

He couldn’t help a soft huff of a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.

_God this guy was freaking adorable! Like the cutest thing he has ever seen. And every time he opened his mouth he just got more endearing._

Raphael smiled, drifting a bit closer, squeezing his hand, thumb lightly running over his knuckles. Simon blushed brighter, shifting forward.

“No need for such formality, at least not so far as you’re concerned. Please call me Raphael. And it is very nice to meet you as well Angel.”

He blinked faintly in confusion, head tilting, the corner of his lip tugging up faintly in amusement, eyebrow quirking.

“Umm…it’s actually Simon…Angel’s like not even close.”

Raphael tilted his head right back, subconsciously mirroring the other guy, eyebrow quirking teasingly.

“Hmm…odd…coulda swore I heard Angel…”Raphael shrugged, gaze flickering over his, smirk growing into a slow near grin, squeezing his hand, tugging him a tiny bit closer.

“More than fits in any case.”

Simon gave a surprised laugh, an impish, near playfully teasing smile flickering over his pretty features, bright golden brown eyes sparkling bright.

“Well I’ll try not to take that **_too_** personally.”

Apparently it was Raphael’s turn to blink in confusion.

“Huh?”

Magnus chuckled brightly, both Raphael and Simon startling, pulling away from each other a bit, looking over in confusion.

_Oh…right…they’re not alone._

They’re in a creepy abandoned warehouse/save the world bunker with his annoyingly moral Boyscout of a best friend and said best friends ‘not-so-imaginary’ friend (whatever the hell that means)…

His not-so-imaginary-WARLOCK friend.

Who is now standing just like four feet away, laughing at him, flashing a bright, Cheshire cat type grin…

W-which kinda fit with the whole ‘glowing cat eyes’ thing…and the weirdly fluid, verging on predatory type movement he saw on the security cameras.

Well…If anything at least there was a theme to the guy: Scary-ass feline.

_Even so it’s something…_

_He guesses._

Eh you know what- right now he’ll take what he can get…probably gonna be a good rule of thumb going forward. He has no clue what’s going on here but he has a feeling if he’s gonna get through this he needs to cling to any hint of order, logic or sense he can find….cause if this involves a world hopping warlock and a ‘save the world bunker’ he kinda doubts there’ll be a hell of a lot of any of those.

He shook that off, folding his arms, head tilting, focus zeroing in on Magnus, expression sharpening, gaze slipping over him near dismissively, meeting those blazing eyes head on, his own gaze sharp and verging on challenging.

“What’s that?”

He chuckled, totally unphased, those hellish eyes sparking bright in amusement. He stepped closer (Raphael took a deep breath, keeping herself steady, fighting the instinct telling him to step back).

“Umm…sweetheart? Not gonna lie that was smooth as hell but kinda a swing and a miss in this one particular case. Bit of a Dimensional-semantics snafu. Hazards of interdimensional flirting I suppose.

In our world ‘Angel’ is not _quite_ the compliment it is here. It’s rather the equivalent of a human calling someone a monster or demon…which is ironic as we have a multitude of both…though we tend to just call them by their given names, like Clary, Blake or Bob…”

Alec gave a surprised laugh, quirking his eyebrow, glancing over at the hellfire cat-eyed guy.

“Bob the demon? That seems right up there with ‘when to yield to a Wendigo’.”

Raphael glanced over at Alec, head tilting.

“When do you ‘yield to a Wendigo?”

Alec shrugged.

“When they’re in the crosswalk of course.”

Raphael blinked before just shaking his head, deciding to ignore his idiot best friend and his random blip of humor in this madness, shifting his gaze from Alec back over to the far more interesting Simon, catching those pretty golden brown eyes sparkling in amusement. He tilted his head, flashing a faint smile.

“So Angel was kinda a misstep?”

Simon shrugged, brushing his hair back.

“Well kinda…or it would be if I didn’t know enough about the human world to put it into context. Though gotta admit even if I knew nothing about the human world it was pretty obvious you weren’t exactly calling me a vicious, evil monster…

At least not intentionally.”

Raphael winced, flashing a sheepish smile, cheeks heating up slightly.

“Oh…wow…yeah, no…definitely NOT what I was going for….sorry.”

Simon gave a soft laugh, shaking his head, shrugging it off unconcerned.

“Like I said I know it doesn’t mean quite the same thing here as it does where we’re from…” he paused, pretty eyes sparkling mischievously, a little smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Though I’m not really THAT familiar with the context in this world. I mean I’d assume the way you said it you’d intended it to be a compliment- especially since you said it fit me so well…so how does your version of Angel fit me?”

Raphael gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head.

“Wow…really putting me on the spot there, aren’t you?”

He shrugged innocently.

“Hey I’m trying to learn…best way to do that is to ask questions, right?”

“True…though I’m pretty sure you’re just fishing for compliments.”

He quirked his eyebrow, that cute, impish little smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“And that’s a problem?”

Raphael gave a bright bark of a laugh, shaking his head.

“I didn’t say that…”

“So..?” Simon prompted, waiting expectantly.

Raphael couldn’t help another little chuckle at the turn in the other guy- this mischievous fiery little streak was even more appealing than the adorable blushy, babbly thing. He shrugged, slipping closer.

“So…what **_I_** meant by Angel is sweet, cute, charming, completely endearing and nearly too adorable to be real…” He shrugged, gaze slipping over his sweet features, taking in the soft, faintly amazed smile on his lips and the bright blush warming his cheeks before shifting up, again meeting those soft, slightly wide, golden brown eyes.

He gave a faint sigh, reaching up tucking a couple light brown colored locks behind his ear, he heard Simon’s breath catch, couldn’t help a bit of a smile, fingers trailing down along his cheek.

“As I said, it really does fit you perfectly…”

Simon swallowed, giving a soft, somewhat breathless near giggle, cheeks flushing brighter, color creeping up clear to the tips of his cute little ears.

“As I said, completely different. Even so I’m guessing this means I really shouldn’t call you Angel, hmm?”

He gave a soft laugh, shrugging, eyebrow quirking impishly, again drifting closer, gaze somewhere between playful and coy.

“Did I say that?”

Raphael swallowed, kinda thrown by the unexpected answer (but in the absolute best possible way) trying his best to keep him relaxed façade and hide the excited little thrill that slipped through him at the little teasing near challenge. He shrugged right back, head tilting, gaze slipping over him.

“No you didn’t.”

Simon smirked, those pretty golden brown eyes sparkling bright, head tilting expectantly waiting. Raphael chuckled, leaning a little closer.

“Angel.”

Simon gave a soft laugh and a pretty little grin, cheeks brightening again. Raphael couldn’t quite keep in a thoroughly charmed smile.

_Wow…that was j-_

“Huh…turned it around- I’m impressed…would’ve thought that was impossible.”

Raphael startled faintly at the voice just to his left, shifting away, standing a bit straighter, instantly going on alert, eyebrow quirking pointedly.

“Says the ‘not-so-imaginary friend/warlock’ from another world?”

Magnus blinked in surprise either at the challenge in the tone or the answer before again breaking out in that Cheshire cat like grin, giving a delighted laugh, glancing over at Alec, jerking his finger towards Raphael, eyes glimmering bright.

“I was right- I do like him!”

Raphael couldn’t quite stop a faint huff of a laugh.

_Oh peachy…_

_Feeling SO not mutual guy._

Alec chuckled, smiling faintly.

“Yeah…kinda had a feeling you would.”

Magnus grinned, giving a little wave, a shimmer of blue-violet sparkles dancing about his fingers.

“Just shows what excellent taste you have in friends sweetheart. You definitely seem to have a type.”

Alec snorted, glancing between the two, nodding.

“Yeah, possible supervillian in the making.”

Simon laughed, catching Raphael’s eye, brow quirking teasingly. Raphael couldn’t even bring herself to deny it, just shrugged, giving a dismissive wave.

“It’s mainly a joke…at least until I get a decent origin story. So long as that doesn’t happen we’re good.” He paused, glancing over at Alec, tilting his head giving a rather pointed look.

“Though given the current situation of being drug into some kind of fiasco involving a ‘save the world’ bunker and a world hopping warlock by my Boyscout of a partner/best friend that might not be totally out of the realm of possibilities.”

Alec blinked in surprise.

“How did I ‘drag’ you into this?! I didn’t tell you what was going on. I didn’t even tell you when we were leaving!”

He quirked his eyebrow.

“Exactly. You said nothing when you were leaving, all but snuck out of the precinct with someone who’s arrival clearly through you for a loop. I saw how shook you were by the name Magnus Bane- it was clear it was beyond the last name you expected to hear. I actually thought that it was someone you knew that’d was supposed to have died from the reaction you had.

Even did a background check clear back to the 70’s just to be sure and not one mention of that name anywhere in any record of the city- and I know you’ve lived here your entire life.

Also from Phineas’ reaction I kinda figured he’d be a knockout…and yeah for the most part you’re good with keeping that kinda thing from clouding your judgment…but you’re just good…not great. Attraction can throw off the judgment of near anyone.

In addition to that you’re way too sentimental and far too quick to hear a sob story and jump right into protective mode. You are a protector to your core- and that’s great- it’s why you are such a great detective…

However it can backfire, get you so focused on protecting someone you lose sight of the fact that they can ALSO be a threat. This was someone you knew when you were a kid. A gorgeous man you would automatically have some level of trust in who just turned up out of the blue ‘just because’.

That’s suspicious as hell.

But you didn’t seem suspicious of the name, you seemed shocked. Then you went to meet with him and less than an hour later all but snuck out of the precinct with him…

And Alec? You are NOT a sneaky person. You’re about as evasive as Jace is modest. You really thought I’d just ignore all that? Please.”

Alec gave a slightly disbelieving huff, shaking his head.

“Yeah I really should have seen it coming. How did you know where we were? You weren’t following us the whole way and t-…damnit...” He rolled his eyes, giving a disbelieving scoff, glaring faintly.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop bugging my damn car?”

He shrugged dismissively, smirking.

“As always at least once more. That’s irrelevant-”

“It’s really not.” Alec muttered.

“-because the fact of the matter is you met with what was essentially a stranger with just enough of a vague past connection to you to give them an in, we’re evasive as hell about anything about them- or as evasive as you are capable of being in any case-, then you snuck out of the precinct with said essential total stranger who proceeded to take you to a semi camouflaged, completely sound-proof abandoned warehouse in the middle of freaking rattlesnake canyon! Without giving anyone- including your best friend AND partner- so much as a heads up just in case.” He scoffed, shaking his head, giving a slight wave towards Magnus.

“Alec? Seriously I get that he’s hot and you have some kind of past connection that was really strong and he no doubt had one hell of a sob story but…really? Drive out into the middle of nowhere with a clearly dangerous, super mysterious stranger without any warning, backup, not even so much as a quick heads up to your partner just in case?

It’s been **_decades_** since you saw him. Yeah whatever he said could be legit…with the whole bunker of magical chaos here I’m guessing it’s pretty close to what he told you but it could have just as easily been some kind of trap.

Hell we’re talking about magic, potions, a dimension hopping warlock and a ‘save the world’ bunker. A trap was the MOST likely outcome here. A mysterious stranger showing up out of nowhere with an outlandish sob story designed to lure unsuspecting people to a soundproof, camouflaged shack in the middle of nowhere is probably an entire genre of horror movie!” He stepped closer to Alec, standing up straighter, crossing his arms, meeting his gaze head on, holding up a finger.

“You are not allowed to be pissed off at me for tracking your car and following you when you are willingly following a pretty face into what in ANY other circumstances would be a glaringly obvious trap likely culminating in your untimely death or disappearance off the face of the earth. And hell that’s STILL not totally off the table. Especially the last part. If anything it could be more likely!

He’s a dimension hopping warlock. How do I know his goal isn’t to drag you back over to his side? How do YOU know it’s not? Maybe that’s the whole reason he came back in the first place. Then what, huh?”

Alec sighed, holding his hands up placatingly.

“Raph, that’s not w-”

“How do you know that?”

Alec faltered, shrugging, glancing over at Magnus, shaking his head before shifting back over to Raphael.

“I-I don’t know…but I do.”

He scoffed, eyes widening pointedly.

“Can you Tell me **_one_** concrete fact that proves that- just one? Any fact beyond he’s stupidly pretty, he said so fairly convincingly, and you knew each other as kids?”

Alec sighed, giving a slightly helpless shrug.

“Honestly Raph? No I can’t.”

Raphael gestured sharply towards him.

“Exactly! S-”

“But none of that changes anything.”

Raphael groaned, rubbing his eyes, head shaking faintly.

“Ale-”

Alec shook his head, holding his hands up placatingly.

“Raph, I get it…I really do. I don’t think your right but honestly I’d be lying if I said there was absolutely no way that’s the endgame here. I don’t think it is but I’d be a pretty crappy cop to just blindly rule out anything out of hand. I don’t know- Like you said I haven’t seen Mags since we were kids, since we were nine years old. A lot can change in twenty five years…” He shook his head disbelievingly, glancing over at Magnus, catching those hellfire eyes, sending a bit of a dazed smile, again shaking his head, gaze shifting back to Raphael.

“And I’m guessing a hell of a lot more in five hundred and thirty years- which is how long it’s been for him as apparently our worlds weren’t quite synced up when we met, to put it mildly it was the 1990’s here, the 1480’s on his side. I know how crazy that sounds but it actually makes a lot of things make sense.

I haven’t seen him in decades- was certain he was just a figment of my imagination as a child. B-but he wasn’t. I’ve spent the last two and a half decades thinking he was a figment of my imagination…only now I know he’s not…he’s real…always has been real, just in a different world…and he’s here now, showed up out of nowhere asking for my help with something.

Something big and insane and totally impossible and honestly if that’s all a lie and this is actually a trap to pull me into another world that might actually be LESS disturbing than the current situation.

I believe him- I know from your perspective that’s foolish just to go on blind faith after two and a half decades but honestly before I met you he was hands down the best friend I ever had. He was my very first best friend…

Regardless of the risks I can’t turn my back on a friend asking for help. Especially on this. It’s not just some little personal problem…this is big, and complicated as hell, and unbelievably dangerous, like world endangering- **_multiple_** world endangering dangerous because I guess that’s a thing. Apparently there’s something wrong with the veil between our worlds. Like intentionally/sabotage type wrong.

It’s shifting, deteriorating, possibly even falling altogether. If that happens who the hell knows what will happen. All of humanity suddenly being tossed into a world with demons, monsters, apparently evil angels, cat people, warlocks, a _ludicrously_ stupid amount of fire breathing creatures, and god only knows what else. It will be chaos, anarchy…and whatever it is effecting it is coming from this side…which isn’t supposed to be possible as there’s not supposed to be any real magic on this side.

I’m the only person on this side Magnus knows- the only other help he has is two magical interns-one on this side one on that- and what sounds like a very cheeky demon communicating via magic mirror. Apparently that’s all that’s standing between the two realms and utter chaos.

I know it sounds insane- beyond insane- but If even half of what he said is true there’s no way I can just walk away. I can’t.” He sighed, giving a kinda helpless shrug, brushing his hair back, unsure what else to say.

“Raph, I totally understand what you’re saying and you have every right to think that. I mean it’s YOU. if you weren’t looking at all the possible ways this could go to hell I’d think you had a concussion…” he paused glancing around the room, flashing a slight smile.

“Or given the current circumstances were spelled by something that was knocked over during the glitter tornado.”

Raphael quirked his eyebrow.

“Glitter tornado?”

Simon leaned forward, holding up a finger sheepishly.

“Umm…yeah my fault…it was something else. Kinda like being stuck in a kaleidoscope- not nearly as fun as it sounds. Especially when we thought we were gonna be sucked into the snow globe.”

Magnus shook his head, flashing a faint smile at the younger guy, waving him off.

“Darling I told you the damn thing was supposed to do that...and it’s not that bad, though it’d be a bit tricky if we all were pulled into it as it’d be kinda hard to call someone to hit the release seeing as everyone with access to my Annex is on the other side of the veil.”

Raphael blinked, eyes widening faintly.

“So…let me see if I can get the jist of this.” He turned pointing at Magnus.

“He is what you thought was a childhood imaginary friend but is in fact a five century old warlock from another world-”

“Realm.” Magnus corrected.

Raphael huffed faintly, rolling his eyes.

“Right because THAT’S the important part here; semantics.”

Magnus chuckled, head tilting concedingly.

“Fair enough, continue.”

He flashed a sarcastic smile.

“Thanks- So your childhood imaginary friend shows up out of the blue and asks you to help save the REALM- or realms- dragging along a ‘magical intern’ which…” He paused, gaze shifting over to Simon, pointing, quirking his eyebrow questioningly, expression slipping to less suspicious more politely inquisitive.

“Is you, yes?”

Simon smiled, nodding, giving a little wave, tucking a couple light brown colored locks behind his ear, cheeks brightening.

“Yup that’s me. Though he didn’t ‘drag’ me along- I am more than happy to be here- and ‘Magical intern’ sounds really odd- I’m a warlock too. I just work as an intern- same with my friend Blake, he’s the intern working on the other side with the demon- Saraphina- which DUDE getting to work with not only one of my best friends but both Magnus Bane AND Clarissa Fray who’s like the freaking demon queen…it is so FREAKING cool! They’re like legendary, I’ve been reading about them my whole life and now I get to actually work with them. Like seriously, I get to be magical back up to THE Magnus Bane, how cool is that?” he trailed off, bright golden eyes sparkling bright, bouncing lightly on his heels.

Raphael just barely managed to keep in a growl, fingers flexing.

_Damn it…What the hell is a sweet, adorable guy like Simon doing mixed up with this? With someone like this ‘Magnus Bane’. This man feels like trouble with a capital ‘T’. Simon seems like he has all the toughness, edge and fight of a freaking labradoodle._

_For god’s sake’s; they’re talking about something imperiling not one but TWO worlds…meaning it’s likely dangerous as hell, can turn on a dime and probably involves things that could turn really bad REALLY fast. Like life threatening kinda bad._

_That is NOT freaking intern work! An intern shouldn’t be anywhere near something like that. That’s like sending a rookie into a freaking heavily armed hostage situation._

Raphael took a deep breath, flashing a faint smile to cover the burst of anger and righteous indignation on the guy’s behalf, giving a slight nod.

“So it would seem. Though I gotta admit being the only magical backup in this entire realm for what sounds like a very dangerous-very high stake- mission sounds like quite a lot to put on an intern...” he paused, gaze shifting over to Magnus, censuringly quirking his eyebrow.

“Somewhat surprising choice.”

Simon gave a slightly sheepish chuckle, leaning forward, again holding his finger up.

“Umm…yeah not so much a ‘choice’…for either of us.”

Raphael blinked in surprise, head tilting, shifting back to him.

“You were assigned?”

He winced.

“Uh…no…not exactly. It was kinda an accident.”

Magnus quirked his eyebrow, smirking.

“Accident- breaking and entering, same difference.”

Raphael blinked in disbelief, glancing between the two, gaze settling on Simon. The younger guy blushed. Raphael couldn’t help a faintly amused smirk, head tilting curiously.

“Breaking and entering? **_You?”_**

He flushed brighter, rubbing nervously at his neck.

“Umm…w-well…technically yeah.”

Raphael couldn’t help a slight, surprised laugh.

“Wha-”

Simon put his hands up placatingly.

“Okay it really was an honest mistake. I wasn’t like ‘breaking and entering’ per say, like to steal or just give me some kind of moronic bragging rights. I found out something and came by to give Magnus a heads up.

See my parents are council member’s- the council’s a pretty high powered, fairly well respected group of warlocks with a lot of sway in a lot of circles- lots of pull, lots of power- political and otherwise-, not so big on the whole morality like ‘thing’.”

Raphael shrugged.

“So your standard politician’s only with superpowers?”

He shrugged right back.

“Basically yeah- and I heard them talking, saying how they needed to get ‘him’ across the veil and I remembered hearing the first year interns panicking cause one of them was supposed to go and ask Magnus to work on a mission for them even though he very clearly flat out swore off working for them after the last time and I couldn’t think of anyone else they’d be trying to get ‘across the veil’ because the crossing effects are like a hangover mixed with a migraine and a viperfish bite and he’s one of the only people who’s done the crossing enough to have adjusted so he doesn’t get the after effects.

I went to let him know that they’re probably planning some kind of underhanded something and that it might not be a good idea for him to cross over. I did a locator spell to find out where he was as his property is seriously massive and he was in the annex which is kinda in front of his actual home. It’s pretty visible from the street and I really didn’t want word of me being around Magnus’s to get back to my parents because…well…just in general the less they know about my life or movements or whatever else the happier I am.

I popped the lock and slipped in- which okay Technically that IS like breaking but was so not my intention.

I went through the annex and spotted him and I was gonna announce myself and tell him why I snuck in but he was doing a spell and they’re really complicated and take a lot of concentration and he seemed really focused and I didn’t want to do anything to screw it up so I figured I’d just hang back till he did his thing then tell him when he was done. Only I didn’t realize the spell he was doing was to move the entire building across the veil…I didn’t even know that was a thing that could happen…but then again it is Magnus FREAKING Bane so really I don’t even know why I was surprised.

Oh and dude! The spell was like the coolest thing EVER! There were flashing lights and black violet flames and crashing waves and rainbow lightening and like a hundred other totally mind-blowing things. And then it was like the whole building was spinning and it felt like you were falling and then everything went dark.

I didn’t know what it was but I kinda stumbled out to where he was and begin to ask what that was but then the transition hit me and…oh dude- it’s like being hit by a truck. I almost collapsed-totally would have if he didn’t catch me and help me over to the couch. He was even nice enough to do a spell to ease the pain and nausea and all of that.

It’s really not his fault I’m here, and the spell to bring an entire building across kinda was a bit more than he expected so he’s not really gonna be able to open another portal over to our side for at least a month or so but he figured since I’m here anyways I can be like his assistant with the magic stuff. Though he made sure I knew it was only if I wanted to which…well duh of course I do, are you kidding me?

I get to be magical back up for the most kickass warlock ever AND help on a real actual investigation, mystery, case type thing with a real detective. That’s like two dreams in one right there.

I’ve been totally amazed by Magnus for years- I still have an autograph I got from him when I was six- and I’ve always been fascinated by detective stories too. I actually thought about going into that kind of work but…well…honestly I kinda doubted people would take me serious enough.

But then just like that I’m working with what was like my idol for practically my entire life trying to solve a mystery and save multiple worlds all while working with a real live detective!”

“ ** _Two_** detectives.” Raphael corrected.

Simon all but beamed, eyes widening, gaze flickering over Raphael, flushing faintly.

“What? Really? You’re gonna help us too?”

Raphael nodded.

“Absolutely.”

Magnus tilted his head, eyebrow quirking.

“Are you sure you want to do that sweetheart?”

Raphael scoffed, quirking his eyebrow right back, meeting those hellish eyes head on.

“Want to? Really? You’re seriously asking if I **_want_** to be involved in a multiple world endangering fiasco involving magic, the deterioration of some kind of veil between worlds, near certain sabotage, warlocks, a demon, god only knows what else, **_and_** some what sounds like shifty as hell pseudo-government organization?

No…no I do not WANT to be involved in any part of this.

However I am a detective and an officer of the law and I’ve just been informed that there is a serious, legitimate, threat to multiple worlds and the only thing standing between a rational world that we understand and what sounds like total anarchy is a flashy, over the top warlock, an intern, and an overly moral Boyscout of a detective- also known as my idiot best friend and partner…all of whom apparently came within a hairsbreadth of being trapped in a freaking snow globe before the real insanity even started.

I may not WANT to be in this but at the same time no way in hell am I just walking away. I’m in this, that’s all there is to it.”

Magnus chuckled, giving a bit of an impressed head tilt, those hellfire eyes sparking, shifting forward.

“Well in that case may as well get the last of the introductions out of the way.” He smiled, stepping closer, extending his hand, those bright, glimmering eyes flashing.

“Hello Raphael, I’m Magnus Bane. Or given your concerns should I call you Detective Santiago? Which do you prefer?”

_God those eyes are terrifying in person, especially this close up…the damn grin doesn’t really help matters. Neither did the weird, prickly, standing out in a lightning storm feeling he was getting from being this close to him._

Even so he’s sure as hell not gonna cower from a freaking handshake (besides Alec’s like RIGHT there and whatever else this Magnus is it’s pretty clear he wants to stay on Alec’s good side…he is SO not above using that.)

He flashed a somewhat sharp smile, shifting forward, catching his hand, shake sure and strong, just a bit tighter than necessary, giving a faint shrug.

“Depends on the person and the situation. For the most part I’m good with either. I only really insist on the Detective part if the person I’m talking to is a criminal, a threat or a bigoted/homophobic/sexist jackass in need of a reminder. For now we can stick with Raphael, I’ll let you know if that changes.”

He gave a sharp, surprised laugh, eyes glowing brighter, grin widening all the more, glancing over at Alec, jerking his finger towards Raphael excitedly, giving an impressed, enthusiastic nod.

_“I LOVE him!”_

Raphael scoffed, shaking his head, flashing a sarcastic smile.

“Yeah great, I’ll start shopping for friendship bracelets. Alright, so let’s go through this again…a little slower and in a lot more detail.”

Magnus’s eyes glimmered bright and amused, that grin growing, eyebrow quirking, giving a quick nod, jerking his head towards the little setting area.

“Wonderful idea darling. Though perhaps we should have a seat- this will likely take a while.”

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I’m kinda thinking the Angels in their world are kinda like a mix of the **_Angelus Sanguis_** in verse 3 and the Gwir-dysts in verse 2…they see themselves as above the other beings and many see it as their duty to vanquish the monsters- though as there are no hapless humans to protect there this can’t really be spun as protecting the innocents, just attacking other beings that are different than themselves because they feel they’re fair game.
> 
> Thought it’d be a kinda interesting twist.
> 
> So what do you guys think so far?


	3. Cute, Quirky and Completely Capable

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##  *-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*

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Magnus chuckled, catching his breath continuing.

“And so then Clary went to Blake’s- and scared the poor darling half to death as what many refer to as the ‘Demon Queen’ just casually dropping by your place is somewhat unexpected...admittedly I should have given the dear a heads up but I was rather preoccupied and in a bit of a time crunch- and in any case it all worked out fine. Blake agreed to help and they used the Reflection spell to call me and turns out Blake and Simon are already friends so that’s quite fortunate- less introductions and an already built in camaraderie between the two youngest/least experienced members of the team so that’s...Oh...”Magnus seemed to startle faintly, glancing over at Simon settled on the chair closest to his spot on the loveseat, flashing a slightly apologetic smile.

“No offense darling.”

Simon chuckled, waving him off with a smile and a shrug.

“None taken. It’s not an insult, just a statement of fact.

You’re the most powerful, kickass warlock like _ever_ , Clarissa is...well Clarissa _FREAKING_ Fray- one of the only magics that even begin to hold a candle to you, and Alec and Raphael are both actual detectives with extensive training and years of experiences handling situations I’ve only ever read about in books or seen in movies.

Meanwhile I’m a twenty-five year old intern with the historical society. You guys spend your days solving mysteries, chasing down monsters- both the human and literal type- and risking your lives protecting innocents from the worst our respective universes have to offer.

Most of my days are spent reading and cross-referencing musty tomes, combing through old, forgotten boxes of relics from different exhibits that have been shelved or repositioning the figures in the dioramas back into their normal, dignified positions after they ‘mysteriously wander’ during the field trips.

Not exactly on the same level. I get it.

Compared to the rest of you I am by far the least prepared for this- VASTLY out of my element. That’s okay though- my elements pretty boring. I know I may not be like ‘ready’ for this but I’ve never let that stop me from anything else- don’t see it stopping me on this.

Especially when ‘this’ is basically like two lifelong dreams rolled into one for me.” Simon grinned, bouncing lightly in his seat, gaze shifting from Alec and Magnus on the loveseat over to Raphael in the chair across from his before freezing, catching sight of his expression.

_Huh...well that’s unexpected._

He’s setting still, poised, almost at attention. His hand’s resting on the arm of the chair but Simon can see he has a near white knuckle grip. His expression is both focused and far off, a complex swirl of emotions shimmering and flickering in those beautifully deep eyes.

_Beautifully deep eyes focused entirely on Simon._

_Hmm...why is h-_

Then everything just seems to stop.

Those deep, glimmering eyes shift up, locking with Simon’s.

_Oh...that’s...umm..._

_Wow..._

Then it’s as if a switch flips, Raphael startles faintly before blinking, those deep, mesmerizing eyes seemingly shuttering, the complex swirling emotions retreating behind a warm- somewhat false but worryingly appealing- amused light. He relaxes, grip on the armrest easing, shifting back more comfortably, flashing a charming, slightly teasing smirk and a little wink.

_Oh goodness t-that’s j..._

Simon feels his heart flip, blushing, just barely managing to fight down a truly embarrassing giggle, starting to give a slight wave before mentally face palming, quickly turning the awkward gesture into reaching up to brush his hair back. He starts to lower his arm, beginning to rest it on the arms of the chair before thinking better it, kind of fidgeting, beginning to rest them on the arms of the chair before thinking better it, kind of fidgeting, folding and unfolding his arms, not really sure what to do with the suddenly very annoying, completely uncooperative appendages.

Raphael huffed out a soft chuckle, that dizzying little smirk picking up a tick, shrugging, shifting forward.

“You know I’m not really sure how true that is Angel. Think I can give you a run for the money on the ‘out of my element’, ‘unprepared’ front. For all my experience dealing with criminals, high stakes cases and bat crap crazy situations that come with nearly ten years of experience in law enforcement gotta admit like 80% of this is gonna be totally new territory for me.

You may not have actual experience with all of this but at least you’ve _known_ of all of its existence for longer than an hour and a half. Don’t get me wrong- I got the detective thing down. I know Detective work, I know tracking suspects and investigations and interviewing and reading criminals and intimidation and more ways to disarm and subdue a threat then I can even list...or probably even remember right off the top of my head.

But all the knowledge I have is based on **_this_** world, on the real world. It all involves Human criminals and non-magical situations and I have no clue how any or all of that is gonna gel going forward.

I mean not to sound conceited but I know I’m good and can handle most situations, I’m adaptable as hell and can improvise with the best of them. It really does take a lot to throw me.

But this? This is a LOT of adapting and probably a lot of improvising and not a lot of time or margin of error to figure it out. I’d say it’s like being thrown into a totally new world but it’s not LIKE that... _it IS that._

**_Exactly_ ** _that._

We’re talking about another world, demons, evil angels, warlocks Wendigos and god only knows what else. I really don’t know how well I’ll fair trying to fit that into my world view...well now multiple world view.” He huffed, rolling his eyes slightly, brushing his hair back, glancing up, catching Simon’s eyes, flashing a slight smile, head shaking.

“I don’t know Angel, Kinda seems to me we might be in the same boat here.” He shrugs, shifting forward a bit more, resting his elbows on his knees. He glances up, catching Simon’s gaze, holding it, those pretty, dark eyes making Simon feel dizzy and more than a little breathless, gaze feeling almost hypnotic, those pretty eyes sparkling bright, reminding Simon of glittering stars.

“Actually I’d go so far as to say you’re leaps and bounds ahead of me here. I mean even if you don’t know the realities of the investigation type work you at least knew it existed. At least you’re not totally starting from zero with this.

Unlike me.

Hell zero’d probably be a step up for me here.” He gave a faintly disbelieving half laugh and slight flip of his hand, head shaking, flashing a somewhat exacerbated smile, continuing.

“Up to less than two hours ago I didn’t even know there WERE realities of magic to know. I never had any interest in fairytales or the fantastical, fantasy type things- magic, warlocks, werewolves, vampires demons. I mean yeah I knew **_of_** them, like in theory- or in passing or what have you. I knew them like as a concept or Halloween costume, but that’s it. I know nothing _real_ about them- Hell I know very little even really of the pop-culture type real version of them here- just the most basic, random, tiny little snippets.

All I really know about them is there in a crazy amount of cheesy movies and tv shows, people get **_way_** too obsessive about them and you see swarms of them during Halloween.

Closest I’ve ever got to any knowledge about this is a bit of an interest in superheroes as a kid, a handful of reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Comic-con tradition of having to try not to laugh while taking statements from the group of Wookies about the guy in the bigfoot costume harassing them saying ‘they’re the same’-

Same dude- three years and counting.”

Simon laughed softly before pausing, head tilting curiously.

“Okay guessing Buffy’s a show and I actually **_do_** know what a bigfoot is, but what’s a Wookie?”

Raphael snorted, giving an exasperated little wave.

“A bigfoot from space with a bandolier and an annoyingly complicated backstory.”

Simon laughed, nodding.

“Ah...and Comic-Con?”

“Basically? A Festival of Nerds.”

Simon laughed, grinning approvingly, bouncing lightly.

“Huh...my kind of place.”

Raphael flashed a warm smile, shaking his head.

“Yeah well, not mine. Unfortunately; gotta feeling it’d come in really handy right about now.”

Simon laughed softly, giving a faint nod.

“Sounds like it...”

Raphael hummed in the affirmative before pausing, something seeming to occur to him. He shifted, standing up, crossing the room, moving over beside Simon, settling comfortably on the arm of his chair. He turned slightly, stretching his arm out along the back of the chair, giving a slight shrug, flashing that dizzying little smirk, those glitteringly dark eyes again catching Simon’s.

_This close they were absolutely breathtaking._

“Hmm...you know Angel, really does seem like we’re in the same boat here. Probably a good idea for us to stick together, don’t you think?”

Simon swallowed, nodding.

“Kay...”

Raphael smiled, shifting a bit closer, smirk picking up a tic.

“Maravilloso, You know the magic thing but so far as the detective/investigation elements you’re kinda nearly at zero. Meanwhile I have the detective thing down cold but so far as the ‘magic’ thing goes my knowledge is well, **_WELL_** into negative numbers.

Thinking we could help each other, kinda shore up our weak spots.”

Simon gave a soft breathless laugh, an idea occurring to him, eyebrow quirking near teasingly, leaning in a bit.

“So you want me to be your Magic Tutor?”

Raphael chuckled softly, smirk picking up a tic, giving a slight shrug.

“Kinda like the sound of that.”

Simon giggled softly, turning a bit in the chair more towards him, propping his elbow up on the back of the chair, arm resting just beside Raphael’s, flashing a teasing little smirk.

“And that’d make you what? My training officer?”

Raphael gave a surprised huff of a laugh, gaze flickering over him, those pretty deep eyes sparking bright, sending a dizzying little thrill down Simon’s spine, shifting a little closer, hand slipping over, fingers trailing lightly along Simon’s arm.

“Hmm...tha-”

“Fraternizing between Trainee’s and their Training officers is against the rules you know.”

Simon and Raphael both startled faintly, glancing over at an obnoxiously smirky Alec.

_Oh...oops..._

_Well this is awkward._

Simon laughed nervously, shifting back a little, cheeks heating, reaching up with his free hand, tucking a few wayward caramel colored curls behind his ear. Raphael chuckled, lightly patting Simon’s arm, catching his eye, flashing a quick little smirk Simon’s way before turning back to Alec, eyebrow quirking near challengingly.

“Yes because it’s not like something being against the rules or forbidden ever makes it better or more exciting.

Though I get how that’d be a disconnect for you Boyscout...I still suspect you send apology letters for speeding during car chases.”

Alec sputtered, glaring.

“I do n-”

“Oh sweetheart you SO are the type! Probably have special stationary specifically for it too.” Magnus grinned teasingly.

Alec huffed, rolling his eyes exasperatedly, flashing a faint glare.

“Oh I do not...and Why am I not surprised you’d agree with the forbidden equals exciting thing?”

He chuckled, smirking, eyebrow quirking.

“Because you’ve met me?”

Raphael chuckled, head tilting almost approvingly, flashing the closest thing to a real smile Simon’s seen towards the warlock before turning back to Alec.

“Fraternizing with a Trainee is a note in your file and a week suspension. Kinda get the feeling ‘fraternizing’ with your imaginary friend might warrant a fair bit more.

Like multiple psych evals and a mandatory 72 hour hold.”

Alec snorted, shaking his head faintly.

“Raph we’re sitting in a ‘magical save the world bunker’ with two warlocks trying to find out how to stop a veil between worlds from collapsing...or more likely being sabotaged.

That’s likely where we both end up.”

Raphael huffed out a faint laugh, giving an acknowledging little head tilt, Alec holding up a hand continuing.

“Besides there’s no ‘fraternizing’ with me and Magnus-”

“Not for lack of trying...” Magnus smirked, flashing a flirty wink causing Alec to blush.

“Umm tha-”

Magnus chuckled, waving him off. He patted Alec’s arm, gesturing over towards Raphael and Simon, flashing a bright smile.

““I think that sounds like a fine idea darling. We are in a bit of a time crunch here- the more ground we can cover quickly the better. Thinking divide and conquer is the way to go... ” He paused, gaze shifting from Raphael over to Alec, smirking teasingly.

“After all I’m sure there’s _all **kinds**_ of things I could teach Alexander.”

Alec sputtered, flushing clear to his ears, glancing away.

“Th-that’s n-I...that...umm...what...”

Magnus chuckled, eyes flickering bright, eyebrow quirking playfully.

“I was actually referring to the magic investigation lessons...though if you want any **_other_** lessons I’d be all too happy t-”

“ _Okay so we seem to have gotten sidetracked-_ not a lot of time...worlds in jeopardy, veil falling, danger insanity, warlocks, demons, way too many fire breathing things, lot to deal with.

So what happened after the mirror spell thing?” Alec finished, slightly breathless and a fair bit too loud, looking over at Magnus with a far too wide eyes and strained smile.

“Man and I thought I was bad at segues...” Simon thought.

Alec blushed lightly, Raphael and Magnus chuckling glancing over at Simon in amusement. Simon blinked in confusion before slumping faintly, rolling his eyes at himself.

“Ugh...escaping inner thought- just ignore them- works better that way.

So I’ll help Raphael with the magic thing, he’ll help me with the realities of working an investigation, Magnus will help Alec brush up on the Magic realm and working on cases involving non-human world elements and no doubt flirt shamelessly and Alec will hopefully be able to help Magnus find a way to pass as a normal human and NOT unbelievably powerful, totally kickass warlock-with any luck while avoiding turning a color usually indicative of a medical emergency.

All in all I think Alec’s will be the most challenging.

One thing down, about a million to go.”

Magnus blinked, flashing a bright grin and an impressed, approving little nod.

“Quite concise darling- and by the way Mags is fine...it’s what all my friends usually call me.”

Simon just barely managed to bite off a truly embarrassing squeak, nodding kind of quickly, folding and unfolding his arms, nodding again, trying to tramp down his smile to pleasantly polite rather than escaped lunatic.

“Oh...uh...Okay cool...cool, cool, cool...umm...”Simon took a deep breath, settling back in the chair, biting his cheek to keep from squeaking, folding his arms to control the super dorky fist pump threatening to sneak out, feeling a thrilling little buzz slip down his spine.

**_Oh my god!_ **

_He was like **THIS** close to being friends with Magnus FREAKING Bane! Oh my god, oh my god oh m-_

_No...stop...deep breaths...Magnus Bane’s friends do not fangirl over him. At least not when he’s still in the same room._

_Geek out on your own time._

He took another deep breath, head tilting politely, trying to keep his buzzing energy at bay.

“So uh...where were we...Mags?”

Magnus chuckled, flashing a bright smile and little wink, beginning back on his recap. Beside him Simon felt a shift, eyes slipping to the side, catching a glimpse of the gorgeous man settled close to his side, feeling a totally different little buzz shift down his spine, this one clear to his toes.

Raphael glanced over, catching his eye, giving a soft, dizzying chuckle, those gorgeous dark eyes shimmering bright, gaze flickering over Simon. He smiled, settling a little closer, focus shifting from Simon back over to Magnus, settling nearly against Simon’s side, close enough that the slightest shift or breath caused him to brush against Simon’s arm.

Simon gulped, feeling his head spin even faster than with the Magnus friend thing. He took a deep breath- then a few more for good measure- trying to subtly calm the spinney feeling in his head, heart doing that little flip, trying to get himself to as close to normal as he could- or at the very least keep himself from passing out.

Or from doing something **_super_** embarrassing like slip his arm around Raphael and pull him in even closer.

_Closer is NOT what he wants right now..._

_Well...o-okay that’s a lie..._

_Closer is not what he **NEEDS** right now._

As gorgeous and flirty and exciting and distracting as Raphael is There’s a hell of a lot more important things involved in this then a stupidly gorgeous, super flirtatious, dizzyingly thrilling, kickass detective.

_There is..._

_H-he thinks._

No. Stop. Focus. Magnus’s talking...Your FRIEND Magnus is talking...focus on that...it’s rude to tune out friends...plus the Friend Magnus reaction was less likely to lead to passing out.

Just focus, see where he is in t-

_Ah crap he’s on the glitter tornado fiasco. Ugh...really that’s where he had to tune in?_

_Ugh..._

Eh, Raphael already heard the cliff notes version of the thing...and if anything that soft, confusingly warm laugh sure does take a lot of the sting out of the embarrassment.

_Kay...doing good...deep breath...keep calm...you’re doing good._

_Just be cool._

_Be cool._

You can do that...you can...totally. Even with a mind numbingly gorgeous man practically cuddled up against your side, flirting like crazy.

W-well...okay so it’s not like there’s anything in your history showing that you **_can_** actually do that-like at all...AT ALL at all...even without the stupidly gorgeous, chuckling detective practically cuddled up to your side.

_But umm, but THIS is totally different. A different time. A different place. An entire different_ **_world._ **

This is big and amazing and really high stakes and requires competence, tact, intelligence, skill, level headedness and **_total_** composure.

_Things that you have._

People just tend to miss them with the flailing and babbling and stupidly annoying escaping inner thoughts...but you **_do_** have them.

And now’s your chance to use them.

It’s _literally_ an entirely new world. If there’s ever a time to try on a new, more professional, respectable persona this is the time. Hell, SO far past time. You are a twenty-five year old adult. It’s more than time to shed the whole ‘overeager, hyperactive, lighthearted nerd’ persona...Okay so it was probably ‘time’ like over half a decade ago after he graduated but better late than never.

Besides it’s Kinda hard to break away from that image from high school when people STILL bring up things like The Pumpkin Weasel Incident, the cursed Jello, the Flying Gerbils and the whole ‘turning Mr. Jenkins into a Werebadger’ thing –

Though that last one he’s only taking like half the blame at best. The dude was like half a step away from Badgerfied before he ever even met him. And he really was just trying to help!

His spell was just to bring out someone’s true self.

He thought he’d be happier, more comfortable...that there were hidden depths and a kind heart under the snappy, grouchy exterior...apparently there wasn’t.- just a vicious, bitey warerodent- his bad.

Hey if anything his students are never late with assignments anymore- not too many people are willing to risk tangling with a pissed off badger over an overdue essay.

_Alright yeah, admittedly senior year was pretty memorable but it was over half a decade ago- let it go already people._

So okay he kinda has a bit of a rep for being an overly excitable, slightly bumbling, well-meaning klutz but he really is far more than that. He just needs the chance to prove it to people who _haven’t_ been around for his most embarrassing, bumbling, face palming moments...this just might be it _(glitter tornado notwithstanding...like seriously not even in the top twenty with him)._

He just needs to play it cool. Act like the competent, capable, serious adult he is. Though admittedly between the Magnus ‘friend’ thing and the Raphael...well... ** _EVERYTHING_**...it might be easier said than done.

But still he’ll manage.

He’s can totally handle this.

He’s got this.

_And anyw-_

His random spiraling thoughts are cut off by a bright chime and an odd little buzz sound. Alec starts faintly, jumping slightly in his seat, glancing around.

“Oh sorry. That’s me-” He shifted, tugging his phone out of his pocket, giving a slight wave towards Magnus to continue.

“It’s probably just Officer Waynes. He was supposed to let me know when the paperwork from the Lawrence case came ov-” He trailed off, blinking, freezing, swallowing nervously, glancing over at Magnus.

“Umm...Mags? Why is Izzy texting me about you?”

Magnus blinked in surprise, head shaking faintly.

“I don-”

Raphael startled, dark eyes widening before groaning, slumping faintly next to _(kind of against-not that he minded-in **any** way)_ Simon, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks, leaning forward, holding up a finger near sheepishly.

“Oh...yeah...uh....crap.” He swallowed, glancing from Alec and Magnus over at Simon, flashing a near nervous apologetic look.

“S-so umm...I **_may_** have topped the glitter tornado mistake...”

##  {*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another Chapter up! I was hoping to get more done today but other things got in the way...in any case I like how this one went. I know it kind of meandered but I kind of just realized that throughout the last story Poor Simon only got one chapter (one half a chapter- and he was only in the last 3) Figured he deserved a bit of babble time.
> 
> Also I know never really elaborated on what kind of intern Simon was- I know Blake works for the council but no way Simon’s gonna- with his parents he’s gonna want to be a good safe distance away from them and their schemes.
> 
> I like the idea of his being an intern with the historical society- plus I’m thinking having a history nerd on the team will come in really handy throughout the series.
> 
> So I’m TRYING to have some illusion of order on my updates since I finally have them all started. I’m basically just going with update the last one updated next-
> 
> As it stands right now this is the order:
> 
> ~~A Start Of Something New (Verse 7)~~
> 
> ~~The Girl In The Mirror (Verse 4)~~
> 
> Nosey Neighbors (Verse 9)
> 
> Love Bug (Verse 2)
> 
> Picture Perfect (Verse 8)
> 
> You Can’t Go Home Again (Verse 1)
> 
> A Study In Chaos (Verse 6)
> 
> This Is Why You Don’t Wander Away From The Group (Verse 5)
> 
> Death Was Just The Beginning (Verse 3)
> 
> I’m gonna try to remain consistent (unless I get a brain blip for a upcoming chapter and have to work on *That* Story right them.
> 
> So what do you think so far?


	4. Trouble Comes A Calling  (Wait Don’t Answer!)

## {*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^}

##  *-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*

## {*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^}

_Crap..._

****

**_Oh Crap!_ **

_Oh this is bad...this is SO bad!_

**_What does he do!?_ **

“What do I do?!” Alec demanded, gaze shifting around frantically.

“You have to answer it.”

Raphael scoffed at Magnus, shaking his head.

“Uh no...not a good idea. We can’t explain this to Izzy.”

Magnus gave a slight wave.

“Of course not. Just make something up. Say it was a mistake or something.”

Raphael shook his head.

“Yeah no... won’t work. This is Izzy- girl’s relentless and a walking, talking, snarking lie detector. Hell, better than a lie detector. I can beat a detector no sweat but even I hardly ever manage to get anything past her.”

“Really, you can?” Simon asked, blinking in surprise, glancing over curiously.

Raphael caught his eye, giving a smug shrug and a kinda proud little smirk.

“Kinda have a knack for it actually...”

Simon gave a clearly impressed little laugh, bright golden brown eyes widening, cheeks flushing lightly.

“Wow...”

The smirk picked up a tic, shifting a bit closer to the younger guy, giving a deceptively casual little shrug.

“You know I-”

**_“Raph!”_ **

He startled faintly, gaze shifting from Simon back over to Alec, flashing a slightly apologetic look before giving a flippant little wave.

“Sorry Alec. But like I said I can barely get anything pass Izzy and you’re...well...YOU.” He huffed, head jerking towards Magnus, continuing.

“You’re about as deceitful as that one is modest.”

Despite the situation Magnus couldn’t help chuckling, head tilting concedingly.

“He may be right sweetheart.”

Raphael scoffed, eyebrow quirking.

“There’s no maybe; I’m right. Alec answers he’s screwed no two ways about it.”

Alec huffed, eyebrow raising, sending a faintly pointed glare towards his so called best friend.

“Thanks a lot buddy.”

Raph shrugged, totally unapologetic.

“It’s true.”

**_“Still not helpful!”_** He snapped as the call dropped only for the insistent ringing to start right back up.

“Damn it!” he groaned, rubbing his eyes, taking a deep breath, zeroing in on Raphael, gesturing towards him with the phone.

“Maybe there’s an escape hatch...a way out. You’re good at finding those. Find one.”

Raphael blinked, scoffing disbelievingly as the call dropped only to jump right back.

“Boyscout, I can’t find something that ain’t there.”

“Well what exactly did you say? How much info did you give her? You couldn’t of had too much.”

He sighed, giving a half shrug.

“I sent her a fingerprint I lifted off the car for her to run and said that you were meeting with someone named Magnus Bane and asked if she knew the name cause something seemed off.”

Alec groaned again.

“Ah damnit...What the hell do I do?! She knows the name and it’s not like it’s a common one. I can’t very well just say it’s some OTHER Magnus Bane! What do I do?”

Raphael just shrugged uselessly. Alec groaned, gaze shifting from him over to the other two, looking for some answer, some help...ANY help. Magnus met his gaze, pretty golden eyes wide, shrugging helplessly.

“I don’t know but you’re gonna have to answer soon. She’s not going to just keep calling incessantly and the longer she waits the worse it’s likely to be.”

Raphael nodded, jabbing his thumb towards Magnus.

“He’s got a point. The longer she waits the more worried she’s gonna get...and the more pissed. No one wants to tangle with a pissed off Izzy. I’ve seen people hide under desks or in supply closets when she’s on a tear.

Hell, during that thing on the Warren’s case Officer Garret was so desperate to avoid her he hid in one of the drawers at the morgue!

You need to answer.”

_“And Say what!?”_

“I don’t know but you have to answer.”

“But you JUST said-”

“I know what I said but you can’t just hope she gives up. It’s **_Isabelle_** \- that’s not an option.”

Alec huffed, pushing his hair back.

“Of course it isn’t bu-”

  
“Maybe Raphael should answer...”

The other three froze, gaze collectively turning to Simon. Alec nodded eagerly, animatedly pointing at Simon before turning slightly, holding the phone out to Raph.

“I like that plan.”

Raphael’s eyes widened, gaze turning from Alec, zeroing in on Simon. The younger man froze, bright golden brown eyes widening.

“ _Oops...”_

Raphael quirked his eyebrow.

“Is there a reason you’re throwing me under the bus? Is this cause of the angel thing? Thought we were good there...”

Simon flashed a sheepishly apologetic smile, cheeks warming, giving a slight shrug.

“Oh no...umm-y-yeah...we are...totally. Escaping inner thought...sorry...t-though it does kinda seems like the best move. You said Alec has no chance at putting her off, but that you have been able to.”

_“Hardly ever!”_

Simon swallowed, nodding, holding a finger up, taking a hesitant step closer.

“Yeah but hardly ever is better than **_never_**...right?”

Magnus flashed a little impressed smile, reaching up, resting his hand on Simon’s shoulder, squeezing gently.

“Excellent point darling.” He turned, shimmering fire eyes landing on Raphael, brow quirking pointedly.

“Also no offense sweetheart but you DID kinda set this all in motion.”

“Both excellent points...” Alec smirked, waving the phone.

Raphael glared faintly, gaze lingering on his irritatingly smirking best friend and Magnus before again shifting back to Simon. The younger man seemed to nearly startle, shrugging hesitantly, nervously scratching at his neck.

“Sorry...b-but you really do look like the best option. Kinda seems like if anyone has a chance at throwing her off and finding a way to get us out of this it would be you.” He trailed off, the pink flush brightening, shifting a little, big golden brown eyes widening hopefully into quite possibly the best puppy eyes Alec has ever seen.

_Oh man...poor Raph doesn’t stand a chance..._

Raphael held his gaze for a moment before just kind of deflating, giving a halfhearted wave in Alec’s direction, pulling out his own phone. He shook his head, flashing a totally heatless, half annoyed, half amused smirk at the younger man, glancing over, holding the phone up, pointing at Simon.

“It’s a good thing you are so damn cute...”

Simon blinked in surprise, a shocked little near giggle slipping out, the pink brightening even more, creeping clear up to his ears, an adorable, amazed little smile tugging at his lips. Raphael groaned again, giving an affectionately aggravated shake of his head, glancing around the room kind of wandering away from the group, sharp, dark eyes flickering about as if searching for something.

Simon tilted his head curiously, glancing at Alec and Magnus before trailing along behind him, the other two following along as well.

“What are you looking for?”

Raphael sighed, giving a halfhearted little shrug, stopping near the door, before turning back towards them.

“A background that’s not an immediate red flag. Kept her waiting too long- a quick text or even a phone call aren’t gonna cut it. A video call is the only real chance. If she can see me and knows that I’m comfortable enough to take the time to do a video call she’ll automatically be less suspicious.

It’s the only real chance we got here.”

Simon smiled brightly, complete with an adorable little flash of dimples, bouncing lightly on his heels, brilliant golden brown eyes sparkling bright.

“See? I knew you were the right choice.”

Raphael tried to muster up a glare but it didn’t even begin to work, settling instead on a halfhearted little shrug. He paused, taking a deep breath and a purposefully relaxed pose before raising his phone, bringing up the number, hitting the button to start the call.

It didn’t even make it half a ring before connecting.

“Hey I-”

“Raphael what the hell is going on?” Izzy demanded, cutting him off.

Raphael blinked, head tilting, eyebrow quirking pointedly at the sharp, demanding tone.

“And hello to you too.”

Izzy gave a faint growl, Alec could practically see the death glare- it was a look that sent most fleeing. Raph just scoffed, corner of his lips picking up a tic in a smug, snarky little smirk...

_Aaand there goes the growl again._

“Damnit Raphael w-”

He chuckled, faintly shifting, leaning back against the door, giving a dismissive shrug, holding his free hand up in a halting gesture.

“Iz relax. Take a breath- everything’s fine, just a bit of a misunderstanding. I was gonna text to call you off but then the calls started and I figured that just wouldn’t cut it.

Sorry to panic you but everything’s okay, it was just a false alarm.”

Izzy scoffed.

“False alarm? How is it a false alarm. Where’d you even come up with that name? I haven’t heard it in close to two decades and I know Alec’s not babbling on to you about his childhood imaginary boyfriend.”

Beside him Magnus just barely managed to muffle a chuckle, glancing over, catching Alec’s eye, brow quirking, flashing a flirty little wink. On his other side Simon covered his mouth unsuccessfully trying to stop a snicker, sending an apologetic smile towards Alec.

_Ugh...Damnit Izzy!_

Alec felt his cheeks warm, glancing away from the others, making a hurry up motion towards Raphael, feeling his cheeks warming even more. Raphael huffed out a laugh, smirk picking up a tic before his dark eyes shift from Alec back over to the screen, shrugging.

“No he wouldn’t...though thinking I’m gonna have to change that- a lot. Have a feeling I’ll have a few questions on that...well questions/taunts/snarks... pretty sure you just gave me a whole plethora of new topics. Thanks for that- always helpful- you know how tedious I find repetitive small talk, and with someone as grounded as Alec it is kinda hard to come up with new material... this should last for a while.”

Izzy scoffed out a half laugh.

“Yeah well, you know me; always glad to help. Seriously Raph what the hell’s going on? Where’d you even get that name? Why do you know it...and why isn’t Alec answering his phone?”

Raphael huffed in annoyance, shaking his head, rolling his eyes.

“Because your brother is a jackass.” Raphael grumbled, gaze flicking up catching Alec’s eye.

_Hey! That lit-_

_“What?_ What could Alec ha-”

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head again, giving a little flippant wave.

“Not that brother. Shorter, blonder, WAY too damn loud. Thinks he’s god’s gift to basically everyone...which if that’s the case god’s shopping in the discount bin...or really likes gag gifts...

**_That_** brother.”

Izzy gave a slight groan that trailed off into a groan, rolling her eyes.

“Ah damnit Jace...”

Raphael scoffed, nodding.

“Yup.”

_Oh! **Jace**...blame Jace...always a solid plan._

She sighed.

“So wha-”

Raphael huffed out a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head, waving indifferently.

“Eh it was a stupid prank...Least that’s what we’re thinking. Some guy showed up at the precinct going by that name looking for Alec. It kinda freaked him out because...well I mean how else do you react to your imaginary friend showing up as an adult?

Turns out Jace hired some actor buddy of his to pull a prank on Alec. Guess the guy looks a lot like how Alec talked about this Magnus guy- or at least an older, hotter, adult type version of him. And it’s Jace so when he made the connection he couldn’t pass it up.

Guess the resemblance was pretty spot on cause it kinda really threw Alec and until he picked up on the Jace angle he was kinda freaking out thinking he basically lost his mind...which- again- childhood imaginary friend showing up at your precinct- kinda more than warranted.”

Izzy chuckled, giving a low whistle.

“Uh yeah...I could see that throwing someone for a loop...crazy Alec would fall for it though.”

He chuckled, nodding, relaxing more against the door, giving another bit of a wave.

“Got that right. It’s totally insane. But I guess the guy really was a dead ringer for how this Magnus would look- which basically seemed to transfer to weirdly hot and uncomfortably pretty...which...well-”

Izzy sighed.

“Kinda resulted in a flustered, flushing, fumbly Alec?”

Raphael huffed, flashing a faint wink.

“Got it in one.”

She chuckled, head tilting.

“Ah...makes sense...And he’s not answering his phone because?”

Raphael shrugged, brushing his hair back.

“He was kinda embarrassed about the whole falling for it thing. More than understandable- Kinda is insane...can’t believe he actually fell for it. Neither could he...even if it was just for a bit.

We’re past that now. Onto the good part; retribution.”

Izzy gave a surprised laugh.

“Your favorite part.”

Raphael chuckled, again flashing a little wink, this one a bit more on the devious side. Izzy chuckled again, seemingly relaxing.

“So what’s the plan?”

Raphael shrugged.

“Still in the works but it’s going. Off to a good start in any case- we even have a bit of extra help. The Faux Magnus guy flipped on Jace, he’s helping us plot- guy’s good...thinking he could give me a run for my money. Might take a bit to work out though. Don’t know what all’s gonna be involved but I have high hopes...and you know how rare it is I can get Alec in on one of my revenge schemes- damn overly moral Boyscout- kinda want to get my kicks in when I can.”

Izzy laughed brightly.

“Understandable...you know if you guys need any more help I c-”

Raphael shook his head, laughing, holding his hand up.

“Thanks Iz but thinking me, this Not-Magnus dude AND you might be an overload of the Machiavellian scheming for the Boyscout...gotta ease him into it, you know?”

She snorted, nodding faintly.

“Fair point...”

Raphael nodded eagerly.

“Thanks for the offer though...Think we more than have it well in hand. Though you know if we need any backup- or an alibi- you’ll be the first call.”

“As it should be...and that’s everything?”

Raphael sighed.

“Yup. Like I said false alarm. Kinda threw me for a bit cause Alec was trying to be sneaky and stealthy and...well...that’s like-”

“Like you trying to be contrite and meek?”

Raphael snorted, nodding, pointing at the screen.

“Exactly. So no actual DRAMA drama...just standard Jace-Jackass Drama. Sorry for the start.”

“It’s fine, better safe than sorry after all...and you were just trying to look out for Alec. Can’t blame you for that.”

“Exactly s-”

“ ** _However_** I can for this whole blame Jace bluff song and dance.”

**_Crap! How did s-_ **

****

Raphael froze for all but a millisecond before blinking, head tilting curiously.

“Jace Bl-” he began only to be cut off by a disbelieving scoff.

“Raph- cut the crap...I know you’re lying.”

“What? I’m n-”

“Oh dude- don’t even try it.”

“Try w-”

“Don’t play that... You’re lying, You have a tell.”

Raphael’s eyes widened.

_“WHAT?! I do not!”_

She scoffed, Alec could literally hear the eyebrow quirk.

“Then how do I know you’re lying?”

“I’m no-”

“Yes you are.”

“No I-”

“You are...you’re doing that thing where you throw in enough truth to cover the crap...it’s effective but I can see through it. You’re lying. And you’re gonna cut it out. Either tell me the truth or hand the phone over to Alec and I’ll get the truth out of him.”

Raphael began to shake his head.

“He’s n-”

“Dude please; don’t even try it. He’s there. I pinged both of your phones. You guys are standing within five feet of each other...he’s listening right now. Hi Alec...pick up your damn phone.”

Alec huffed, slumping against one of the shelves, trying to brace for the fallout. Raphael glared at the phone.

“You know that’s REALLY obnoxious.”

Alec scoffed, eyebrow quirking pointedly.

“Like bugging someone’s car?”

The glare shifted from the phone over to Alec.

“Not the same thing.”

“Kinda is...”

“Oh no it’s n-”

“It is...and it’s warranted. Cut the crap. Answer, put Alec on or I’m calling in a favor with Sargent Sullivan and having the tac team rerouted to your area.”

“What?! You ca-”

“They’re doing maneuvers out at Diamondback Ridge- they can be there in less than five minutes.”

Raphael glared, shaking his head.

_“You can’t do that!”_

She scoffed.

“Try me.”

Raphael held his ground, staring her down before faltering, gaze flicking from the screen over to Alec, giving a kind of helpless shrug.

“I-she’s not bluffing.”

“I know...” Alec sighed, slumping back against the shelves, shrugging back.

Izzy took a deep breath, shifting the phone.

“Guys? Please just tell me what’s going on. Just tell me the truth.”

Raphael huffed, gaze shifting back to the screen, giving a helpless little wave.

“Iz it’s really, REALLY complicated.”

She scoffed.

“So? I’m an M.E.; I’m a scientist and a cop and a psychologist all rolled into one...I can do complicated.” She gave a slight half chuckle, shrugging.

“Besides it’s **_Alec_**...seriously how complicated could it possibly be?”

Raphael quirked his eyebrow pointedly, meeting her eyes for a moment before tilting his head, giving a slight huff. He slowly turned the phone, holding it steady, panning around the Annex, over the incomprehendible rows of shelves, over the cauldron and the spellbooks and all of the assorted insanity finally shifting over to the other three.

Alec blushed, flanked by Simon with a too bright smile and a nervous little wave and Magnus giving a helpless shrug at Izzy’s frozen, stunned expression. Magnus smiled, brilliant fire like cat eyes flickering bright, shifting forward slightly, raising his hand, giving a fluttering little wave, a glimmer of blue violet sparkles dancing around his fingers.

“Hello Isabelle...Lovely to see you again sweetheart. It’s been a while.”

Izzy blinked, swallowing, giving a shaky, kind of stuttery nod, brushing her hair back, hesitantly waving back.

“Umm...y-yeah...that’s complicated alright...”

##  {*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^*_*^}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Another chapter up! Man I missed this verse. I really like how this one went. This verse is gonna be a lot of fun.
> 
> So I was thinking about kinda moving away from the list but I keep getting pulled back to it. Here’s the order I’m likely to go into (Though I may end up doubling back to another chapter for V7 as it does kind of run away with my mind). In any case this is the theoretical order we’re gonna go in:
> 
> ~~A Start Of Something New (Verse 7)~~ ~~~~
> 
> ~~The Girl/Demon In The Mirror~~ ~~(Verse 4)~~ ~~~~
> 
> ** Nosey Neighbors  ** ** (Verse 9) **
> 
> Love Bug (Verse 2)
> 
> Picture Perfect (Verse 8)
> 
> You Can’t Go Home Again (Verse 1)
> 
> A Study In Chaos (Verse 6)
> 
> This Is Why You Don’t Wander Away From The Group (Verse 5)
> 
> Death Was Just The Beginning (Verse 3)
> 
> Next up will likely be V9- I do love the Spyverse so it’s pretty likely that’s where I’ll go next (unless of course my brain runs some other way...which it does at times lol.)
> 
> So what do you guys think?

**Author's Note:**

> Kay so on the one hand I know I’m basically leaving off this chapter at the same place as the last chapter of the 1st story but 1. It seemed like a logical stopping place and 2. I just realized that I finished this in November (AKA 5months ago) so I figured a bit of a refresher would be helpful.
> 
> Besides I really liked getting Raph’s POV of this and seeing exactly where he came in (I know it’s kinda a long time for no one to notice him but to be fair they’re all a bit distracted).
> 
> One of the things I’m most excited about with this verse is getting to have Raphael and Magnus’s 1st meeting and the beginning of their friendship- that’s a new one for me and I think it’ll be a really fun, interesting dynamic to play with.
> 
> I really love how this went and I promise next chapter we’ll actually move PAST this scene. I am SO glad to be back writing in this verse I really do love it.
> 
> So what do you think so far?


End file.
